117: Zukalous: Defender of Ivalice

[Melody Lutz]

Zukalous: Defender of Ivalice

"Zukowski builds his FAQs like monsters in a laboratory. He begins by playing the game with his laptop by his side and takes notes on the cut scenes, puzzles and bosses as he goes along - he calls these notes 'bones.' Then, he adds 'muscle' by expanding the notes into complete sentences and adding detail. Finally, he takes the time to 'digest' the meaning of the game, often during his hour-long commute to and from his day job. In the case of Final Fantasy XII, the result was a 'political revolution simulator.'"

Melody Lutz takes a step-by-step look at the life of a FAQ writer.


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[J.theYellow]

So ... the value to this story is that there's one GameFAQs author who isn't a complete and utter waste case? And is occasionally snarky?

Maybe I'm missing something.

 

[mollypocket [deprecated]]

Um, the focus of this issue is finding different niches in the industry, which this article illustrates quite well. Its inspiring to hear about someone creating their own value and finding an alternative path into a competitive industry.

 

[Russ Pitts]

Maybe I'm missing something.

 

[J.theYellow]

Look, I didn't mean this as an insult to the writer or even to the subject (though the article itself implies the guy gets and can take criticism for his writing.)

If anyone else wants to talk about this guy or the article, don't let me stop you.

 

[TomBeraha]

I'm sort of in the same boat as J here. I think it's an interesting exposé on the life of a FAQ writer. It caused me to read though some of his FAQs for a game I had played some of. His style of writing is definitely more entertaining than that of most FAQ authors, but I'm not sure how well this article stands otherwise. If Brady decides to pick him up for work on there FAQs that would be a very interesting twist or edge to this story. But I'm still left feeling like there just isn't that much there. That all said - I think the piece is well written, and I think it's an OK subject, just not as interesting as others that are probably out there. How much effect does a FAQ writer have on the popularity of a game, it's success in the industry, or really the industry at all? I guess I feel like he's tangent to the industry touching only in that his subject matter is games. Kudos to him for his efforts, I don't intentionally demean them, they're quite entertaining in their own right. If his work gets him noticed by bigger entities I think it's starting to happen for him. I suppose in a way it has, he's in the Escapist now!

 

[usea]

I had the same feelings as TomBeraha when I read this article, but mollypocket's comments are interesting. I cannot make any sense at all of the organization on the escapist. I used to love the print-like layout in the past. I've tried for some time to make sense out of the site now, but I can't. So I just randomly click on links to try and find something interesting.

Going back and looking I see now where it says issue 117 above the pictures of the articles, and I can get a list of issues and articles for each one. I guess the editor's note tells me what the issue is about. It seems so counter-intuitive, I'm just really put off by the whole thing.

Sorry to clog up these comments with something not directly related. I felt confused by the point of this piece until I read molly's comment. I had no idea articles were still part of issues and that they had a common theme. Even after knowing that, I feel a little lost with the point of what I just read, I share tom's feelings.

 

[Katana314]

So did anyone else ONLY click the article because they saw hot girls?

I'm only being honest because I hope everyone else will be.

 

[Valiard]

I am gonna feel stupid, but XII doesent actually have a multiplayer mode like IX did does it?